TRENTON —A state appellate panel today refused to overturn the conviction and 50-year sentence of a member of the Latin Kings street gang for trying to kill a Plainfield man outside a nightclub.

In upholding the verdict and sentence of Francisco Demoscoso, the two-judge panel said the prosecutor did not engage in misconduct during the 10-day trial and the judge did not impose an excessive sentence.

Demoscoso, 39, of Plainfield, claimed he didn’t get a fair trial because the prosecutor made several references in front of the jury that a witness feared retribution from him and that the prosecutor failed to tell another witness not to make reference to his prior criminal record.

In his appeal, Demoscoso also contended Superior Court Judge Joseph Perfilio in Elizabeth made a mistake when he didn’t grant a mistrial because of that alleged prosecutorial misconduct and that the judge’s sentence was excessive.

A jury convicted Demoscoso on Sept. 20, 2010, of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses in an attack on a Plainfield man outside the Chez Marie nightclub early Jan. 26, 2008.

In that incident, Demoscoso got into an altercation with Alfredo Moran outside the club and his then-girlfriend, Maria Monjaras, stabbed Moran twice in the rib area, according to court documents. They all left the club, but returned a short time later, where they again got into a fight. This time, Demoscoso cut Moran’s nose with a knife and chased him as he ran away.

Joining Monjaras in her car, he, Monjaras and another member of the Latin Kings found Moran several blocks away at Park and North avenues. He and the other Latin Kings member repeatedly hit and stabbed Moran, the court documents said.

Before trial, a witness identified Monjaras as being involved but said she didn’t know the identity of the man in a surveillance video that captured some of the incident. She later told investigators that man was Demoscoso.

During the trial, Monjaras referred twice to Demoscoso’s prior offenses when she said the he was incarcerated and that he had a parole officer.

Demoscoso claimed that was grounds for a mistrial because it prejudiced the jury against him.

But appellate judges Douglas Fasciale and Michael Haas said the reference was inadvertent, that Perfilio properly instructed jurors to disregard that testimony, and that Monjaras should avoid any reference to Demoscoso’s previous offenses in the rest of her testimony.

The appellate judges also said Perfilio was well within his rights to impose the 50-year sentence.

“The judge did not abuse his discretion and therefore we will not disturb the sentence,” Fasciale and Haas wrote.